3 3 Ñ OVERCROWDED PRISONS... LEADING TO A NEW PLAN BY U-S ATTORNEY GENERAL ERIC HOLDER... REDUCING SENTENCES FOR SOMEá LOW-LEVEL DRUG CRIMES.Ñ ACCORDING TO THE GROUP 'SENTENCING PROJECT'... THERE ARE ROUGHLY 25-THOUSAND DRUG CONVICTIONS IN FEDERAL COURT EACH YEAR... AND 45-PERCENT OF THOSE ARE FOR LOWER-LEVEL OFFENSES.Ñ INVESTIGATOR BOFTA YIMAM EXPLAINS HOW THE CHANGE WILL IMPACT PITTSBURGH. 3 3 3 Ñ US ATTORNEY DAVID HICKTON SAYS HE'S EXCITED ABOUT THE ANNOUCEMENT, WHICH OFFERS MORE DISCRETION IN HIS ROLE. HE SAYS PENNSYLVANIA COULD SEE REDUCED PRISON POPULATIONS, COSTS AND IMPROVED 3 REFORM MOVE AT THE DOWN INTO SAYS US ATTORNEY THE ATTORNEY POLICY OF PRISON SENTENCES VIOLENCT DRUG TIES TO GANGS OR HICKTON SAYS THE U-PROBLEMS.IN ORDER TO SAFETY, HE SAYS ON PUNISHMENT AND HICKTON SAYS THEY CRIME- BUT WILL BE 3 Ñ HICKTON SAYS THEY WILL NEED MORE RESOURCES IN THE DRUG TREATMENT AND MENTAL HEALTH AREAS, WHICH HE SAYS ARE EXPECTED.Ñ 3